In related art, it is known that the location information of a portable terminal is used to control electronic appliances in a house. For example, it is known that an air conditioner and a personal computer in a house and an office, are turned on when the portable terminal approaches the house and the office using GPS (Global Positioning System) installed in a portable terminal (See Patent document 1).
However, it is a distant idea that all preliminarily associated electronic appliances in a house are turned on just because a portable terminal approaches the house. For example, if the electronic appliance is a television, it is preferable that control, such as to change the user interface of the portable terminal to a television remote control, is conducted when a user is in front of the television. However, for example, the user interface of the portable terminal is changed into a television remote control not when a user is in front of the television but when a user is on the way house, which is far from detailed control.
The pinpoint control of the user interface of a portable terminal for achieving such a function may be limited due to the accuracy of GPS. Changing the user interface depending on only location information raises another problem in which an optimal user interface is not obtained, for example, when the location of an electronic appliance is changed.